Fishing with Members of My Fishing Cape Cod | May 28 Report

The cottage where I stay in Truro is owned by a member here on My Fishing Cape Cod - Dave Frennesson. It's located in close proximity to some of the Cape's most famous beaches, restaurants and most importantly - fishing spots!

Members of My Fishing Cape Cod can rent this cottage for 10% off. Plus Ryan will provide fishing tips and recommended fishing areas to anyone who rents the cottage for 3 nights or more!

At 3:30am Tuesday morning I met MFCC members Steve Kwietniak and Dan Hamlin at a quiet parking lot on Lower Cape Cod. The sunrise was spectacular, and there were enough schoolie stripers around to keep us occupied.

MFCC member Dan Hamlin is a retired Navy veteran who just recently started fly fishing for stripers. To learn more about the general location fished during this trip, please click here.

MFCC member Steve Kwietniak primarily fly fishes for trout in Pennsylvania with a great deal of success. This season Steve hopes to catch more stripers on the fly.

This was the second time I had fished with Steve and the first time I had fished with Dan. It was great hanging with these guys and I had a lot of fun. As a group we probably caught about 10 schoolies on the fly rod, while being surrounded by some of the most gorgeous scenery on the Cape.

Later that same day I met up with MFCC member Parimal Patil and his 14 year old son Anand. As often happens on the Cape, the weather changed in a heartbeat from bright sunny skies, to pelting rain and a cold northwest wind.

MFCC member Parimal Patil works as a philosophy professor at Harvard University. To learn more about the general location fished during this trip, please click here.

Yet we persevered and as a group probably caught a half dozen schoolies on the fly. However to be honest, I had expected the action to be much, much better.

The next morning on May 23 I had Darren Jacobs and Michael Furtado along for a surfcasting trip. ​

Darren Jacobs (left) has been a member of MFCC since 2014. Michael Furtado (right) has been onboard for the last 11 months.

he fish were still small but the action was better, with 15-20 schoolies landed. I also saw a couple 28-30 inch bass cruising in the shallows.

Seeing these larger fish made me hopeful that we'd get a push of small keepers for my afternoon trip with Andrew Nolan, his dad Chuck, and Joel Schwendemann.

Andrew Nolan (background)  purchased this trip as a birthday gift for his dad Chuck (foreground). It was the first time I've met and fished with these guys.

I could see dense schools of what I presumed to be striped bass swimming just beneath the surface out of casting range. The fish were packed together like sardines and were in a "zombie" like state. I started getting nervous that the fish were going to remain out of casting range and not push into the shoreline to feed.

Unfortunately that is exactly what happened and for the first time in 3 years I got skunked at this particular spot which has proven to be incredibly consistent for me. However there was no time to sulk because I had another trip the next day (May 24) with MFCC member Bob Flaherty and his son Liam. 

Liam Flaherty (left)  is an avid duck hunter in Vermont. His dad Bob (right) grew up on the South Shore of Massachusetts.

After the skunking, I decided it would be in our best interest to fish a beach I had not fished since the 2017 season. I said a silent prayer to the fish gods and by 6:30pm we had arrived at the new spot.

I took my first cast of the evening and watched as a striper came up behind the plug and smacked it. I was on! From there on out it was a steady diet of schoolies and small keepers from 6:30pm-11:30pm. 

Once it got dark the size of the fish increased, but they still proved difficult to hook. To learn more about the fishing techniques we used during this trip, please click here.

We had steady action the entire night and probably caught around 20-25 stripers with the largest fish approaching 32 inches. 

Fortunately the consistent bite repeated itself last night (May 26) for my trip with MFCC members David Kaplan, Shane Uriot and his girlfriend Britt.

Shane Uriot is the producer and director of My Fishing Cape Cod TV. His girlfriend Brit is an exceptional caster who hooked one of the largest fish of the night. Unfortunately it got away.

New MFCC member David Kaplan works with companies to help them formulate strategic business plans. He's also an avid freshwater fisherman and author of these three books about fishing Middlesex County.

We also popped off a couple fish that were taking some serious line. By no means do I think the fish we lost were "cows" but I do think we might of hooked at least one striper that was pushing the 35 inch mark. 

In conclusion this past week has just reiterated the importance of never giving up when you are fishing the beach. Consistently tracking down decent stripers without the use of a boat, and then figuring out how to fool them, is no easy task. 

We'll see what happens tomorrow night (Monday May 28) when I fish the beach for the first time with MFCC member Nancy Gropper. I have room for 1 or 2 more people if anyone is interested in fishing Monday night from 8pm-2am. Just email [email protected] ASAP if you are interested.

In the meantime I am definitely looking forward to seeing what this week brings! For more information about the general locations fished in this report, as well as the techniques used to catch these fish, please click here.

Tight lines!